Another Kenyan pastor charged with mass murder of his followers

As news of Pastor Ezekiel Odero's detention emerged, officials said the death toll has now risen to 103 in the investigation into the fasting cult that has shocked the world in recent days.

Pastor Ezekiel Ombok Odero (in white) is escorted to a Kenyan police station for investigation. UK: Reuters

Odero, wearing a white coat and carrying a thick black book, did not answer reporters' questions as he was escorted into the police station by a uniformed officer.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki wrote on Twitter that officials had evacuated scores of people who had been "taking refuge" in the Odero New Life Church and Prayer Centre in the small town of Mavueni on the Indian Ocean coast.

Odero "is being processed to face criminal charges related to the mass killing of his followers," Kindiki added, without giving details on the number of people killed. He also did not say whether the two incidents were related.

Mavueni town is about 66 km from Shakahola forest, where cult leader Paul Mackenzie is accused of ordering his followers to starve to death so they would be the first to enter heaven before he predicted the end of the world on April 15.

Mackenzie has been in police custody since April 14. And since Friday, investigators have exhumed the bodies of 95 members of his self-proclaimed Evangelical International Church from shallow graves in the woods. Eight others were found alive but later died of starvation-induced exhaustion.

The death toll, one of the worst sect-related tragedies in recent history, is expected to rise further as the Kenya Red Cross said more than 300 people were missing.

Mackenzie was arrested last month on suspicion of killing two children by starvation, and was later released on bail, according to local media. Mackenzie has also been arrested multiple times since 2017 on a range of charges including child abuse, but has been acquitted for unknown reasons.

Bui Huy (according to AFP, AP, Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/them-mot-muc-su-nguoi-kenya-bi-buoc-toi-giet-hang-loat-tin-do-post245569.html